Earth 7374
by JD Diamondeyes
Summary: An epic tale of Earth-7374, a post-M-Day world where Josh Foley must discover his powers and join the White Queen and her followers, the Ageless, in order to avenge his father and save his uncle from the Kingpin. Features a host of X-Men favorites.
1. Chapter 1

_According to some quantum physicists, there are many worlds inhabited by sentient beings. Not just planets in other galaxies, but whole other universes with other earths. Some even have another you._

_In Earth-7374, a powerful mutant named Wanda Maximoff had a mental breakdown, removing the mutant x-genes of nearly every mutant on the planet. Unlike Earth-616, Wanda also wiped out the memory of superhuman mutations from the general population of the planet and removed mutagenic radiation left over from all nuclear reactions. To prevent future mass mutations, Wanda altered her world's history so that the rise of industrialism and enlightenment occurred before the discovery of electricity. As a result, even advanced machines are steam powered._

_Wanda wished to erase all mutation, but even she is not powerful enough to stop evolution._

_** One **_

Joshua Foley loved his literature courses. The stories of gods and heroes brought out his creativity, while his Theory of Steam Mechanics class just made him depressed. It was bad enough he had to hear his uncle drone on and on about cogs and springs at home.

Josh and his father had been farmers their whole lives - poor, but content in the pastures. With so little market for beef, Mr. Foley had no choice but to sell the farm to avoid foreclosure, moving to the city to work at his brother's mechanics shop. The pay was abysmal, but they had a roof over their heads.

Josh could not fit in with the city kids. They teased him mercilessly for his weight. He had grown up eating meat, unlike the salad-and-tofu crowd at school. He had gotten a bad burn in his Mechanics class earlier that year. He had foolishly reached into a hot coil, which gave him a snake-like burn down his left arm and hand, which gave the other students more to tease him about.

Josh spent much of his time daydreaming. He thought about running away for a long time. The wilderness never scared him as much as civilization.

_I can't believe this, _Josh thought. _That's the fifth time this month I have had a book stolen right out from under my nose. And two hours looking for it, only to find it's ruined! Hang on - why are there so many people in Uncle Harold's shop? Maybe I should go in the back way and find out what's going on._

"Harold, my employer is not as patient as you seem to think he is," said a very large man with a scraggly beard. His voice was low and rough.

"My time is very valuable. There is no chance I'm going to spend it developing a new machine for so little pay. Especially not for your 'employer,'" said Harold, trembling.

"Your time may be more valuable than you realize," growled the bearded man. He took out a knife and waved it in front of Harold's face. "Since you might not have much left!"

Josh could barely see anything from the crack in the door where he stood, but he listened closely to every word. He heard is father's voice, "Don't do it, Harold! Never give in to evil out of fear!"

The bearded man moved so fast Josh barely saw it. He heard his father hit the ground on the other side of the door and saw blood covering the bearded man's knife. Josh bit his lip to stay quiet.

"Brave last words your brother spoke, Harold. But look what that bravery got him!"

"Al-alright!" Harold squeaked, tears streaming down his face. "I'll go with you."

When the men had left with Harold, Josh ran to his father's side. Josh realized his father had died almost instantly, and his heart broke.

After a few minutes of tears, Josh again felt the threat of the killers, who could come back at any time. With the authorities so corrupted by the Kingpin's syndicate, there was no use going to the police. It was time for Josh to run. He threw some jerky, a skin of wine, and a large knife in a bag and took all the money he could find.

Josh tried to look inconspicuous as he left the city at the nearest gate on the west side. After a few hours of hiking, Josh came to a clearing.

_Here is as good a place as any to stop for the night. _Josh thought. He quickly gathered wood and started a small fire. _I better keep the fire small. If it gets too big, it would give me away if I was being followed by those men who... who..._

For the first time, josh felt the reality of what had happened. He cried for a very long time and started gulping down the wine.

Josh felt a tingling in his arm. He ignored it at first, but it began to feel very hot where his burn was. When he looked at it, he saw it was changing colors from an angry red to a luminous gold right before his eyes. Josh touched it gently with his fingers. The pain was completely gone, and the skin felt soft and moist.

Josh heard a voice in the woods that seemed to be echoing all around him. "That's interesting."


	2. Chapter 2

The voice seemed to be coming from all around him. It was strong and smooth, somehow setting his mind at ease, yet instantly sobering. Josh felt a sudden brush of wind behind him. He turned, shocked to be feet away from the source of the voice. The newcomer was a young man, perhaps two or three years older than Josh. Through the dim light of the moon, Josh could see he had wavy, blue hair and large, blue feathered wings on his back, which fluttered as he landed.

"Who are you? What are you?" Josh stammered.

"Call me Bluejay. Everyone else does." Bluejay sat down as he spoke. His voice seemed to have a calming effect on Josh. He somehow felt he could trust him. "I'm a mutant. And apparently, so are you. I was not expecting that."

"I'm Josh. Josh Foley," he said, sitting beside him. "What's a mutant? I'm no good at science."

"There's a theory that all living things are made up of cells, which can be seen with a powerful microscope. Inside those cells, they say, is the manual on how to make you. Each generation gets the information from the previous generation, but little changes, called mutations, happen all the time. When a very large change happens all at once in a single generation, we call the offspring a 'Mutant.'"

"So..." Josh hesitated. "So you're not an angel?"

Bluejay laughed. "That's a tricky question. My parents were every bit as human as anybody's ever were, if that's what you mean. Others like me, with wings, I mean, are called Cheyarafim. Some say that's what angels are."

"So there are others like you? Are there many?" Josh asked excitedly. He nearly forgot to offer Bluejay some of his wine and jerky.

"If you mean Cheyarafim, I only know one. We call him Archangel, and he is really impressive. As for mutants, like you and me, we are very rare, but our numbers are growing."

"Oh yeah... I'm a mutant, too." Josh looked down at the golden skin on his arm. There was no trace of redness or pain, no scar. "So what, I turn burns into gold or something?"

"You have regenerative powers, it seems. I do as well. My body heals itself from injury very rapidly, and I never get sick," Bluejay said. "Of course, I don't turn gold when I heal. It might be a side effect of your mutant powers."

"Hang on, you said you were surprised I am a mutant. Why are you even here, then?" Josh was starting to get nervous.

"It's the Kingpin," Bluejay sighed. "My people caught wind that he is trying to form new weapons and recruit mutants. Oh yes, he knows about mutants. He has powers, too: incredible strength, near invulnerability, and he can make himself immovable."

"I think those men said something about Uncle Harold building something before... before..." Josh broke down, a fresh wave of grief overtaking his whole body.

"Josh, I am so sorry about your father. I followed them to gather information, but I swear I wouldn't have let them go in if I knew any of you were in real danger." Bluejay's voice quivered as he spoke.

"I don't understand why they would care about Uncle Harold. The junk he sells is available in a dozen mechanic shops in this city alone. The only thing he does differently is Tinker with lightning-power. With all the work he's done, he has only powered small devices for very short periods of time, and he's nearly been killed by lightning three times. That crazy idea is worthless," Josh added.

"Lightning power?" Bluejay gasped. "That must be why they want him. Maybe these new weapons will use lightning."

"But the Kingpin would need a sustainable source," Josh said.

"Which he could just get if he knows where to look. Emperor Sunfire's daughter possesses the power of lightning. If we don't get to them first, we could really be in danger!"

"You gits are in danger right now!"

Josh turned toward the voice. There was a green man with greasy shoulder length hair squatting beside two armed soldiers. Josh did not recognize the uniform, but he had a hunch he knew who they worked for.

"Toad hates birdy-boys! Toad will get a bonus for telling the Kingpin about the esteemed Emperor's daughter!" the green man croaked.

"You won't get the chance, slimeball!" Bluejay yelled as he leapt at Toad. his speed was incredible, and his wings allowed him to cover the distance in a single bound. Bluejay punched Toad twice in the face, only to be sent toppling by a bone-crunching kick from his adversary.

One of the soldiers grabbed Josh around the middle, pinnging his arms down. Josh wriggled and squirmed until his left arm was free.

"You monsters killed my father!" Josh bellowed. He had never felt such hatred in his entire life. He grabbed his assailant by the neck. He felt his skin go cold as the golden color turned to midnight black. The soldier's eyes widened. The next moment, the soldier dissolved into the air, clothes and all.

Toad and Bluejay stared, stunned. The other soldier was furious, and pointed his crossbow right at Josh. His arrow soared through the air and hit solidly in Josh's chest.

Josh could feel his knees buckling in pain, but he never hit the ground. he could feel a pair of strong arms around him and a cool breeze on his skin. He forced his eyes open. He saw a cloudless sky, and large, blue wings. Then, he looked down at his chest. The arrow had hit right where his heart was. Blood was everywhere, and the last thing Josh remembered was a sound like a thousand chirping birds.


End file.
